Terminally Ill Man To Be Executed

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MrsSpringsteen

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He could have as little as six months to live, so what is the point? And there is the issue with his veins as well. So if all appeals are exhausted to no avail, he is executed today.

OKLAHOMA CITY — A death row inmate with terminal cancer was down to his final appeal Monday, the day before his execution, after a judge dismissed his claim that the state's lethal injection method unconstitutionally causes excruciating pain.

Death penalty opponents who question the need to execute someone who has as little as six months to live anyway have rallied around Jimmy Dale Bland, a two-time killer who shot his 62-year-old employer in the back of the head 11 years ago.

"It won't take much to kill him. He's half dead now," said Bud Welch of Oklahoma City, a board member of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty whose daughter was killed in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

Diann Rust-Tierney, executive director of the Washington-based coalition, said the case raises ethical issues.

"It is pointless. The fact that this is moving forward and it is so shocking is really why the public is coming to see that there is something terribly wrong with the system," Rust-Tierney said.

Prosecutors have said Bland's medical condition is not grounds for clemency, and the victim's relatives also have said he does not deserve to die of natural causes.

Bland, 49, has been administered radiation and chemotherapy for advanced lung cancer that has spread to his brain and his hip bone, according to his attorney, David Autry.

Bland's execution could turn into a catastrophe if the veins in his arms where a lethal dose of chemicals will be injected have been compromised by his chemotherapy treatments, Autry said.

Autry has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block Bland's execution and decide whether executing a terminally ill inmate violates the Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. U.S. District Judge Stephen P. Friot denied a stay Monday based on a similar argument.

The high court has not acted on the request, commonly made at this stage by condemned inmates. Autry said it was the last chance of stopping Bland's execution, set for Tuesday evening.

The five-member Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board unanimously rejected Bland's request for clemency June 12.

On Friday, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals voted 3-2 to deny a stay, with the majority writing that prohibiting the execution of a terminally ill person "would mean the death sentence could not be carried out before the natural expiration of a person's life."

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Charles Chapel of Tulsa said a stay should be granted to protect "the dignity of society itself from the barbarity of exacting mindless vengeance."

"Bland's life is very near its natural end. It is cruel, unusual, inappropriate and totally unnecessary to intervene at this time, just to ensure that his demise is at the hands of the state," Chapel wrote.

Bland was sentenced to death for the Nov. 14, 1996, murder of Doyle Windle Rains, who was shot in the back of the head in his garage with a .22-caliber rifle.

Bland was driving a vehicle owned by Rains when he was arrested for driving under the influence two days later. Bland, who did construction and handyman work for Rains, confessed to killing Rains and hiding his body.

Bland also spent 20 years of a 60-year sentence in jail after pleading guilty to manslaughter and kidnapping charges in 1975. He had been out of prison less than a year when he was accused of killing Rains.
 
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:| This story is everything wrong with capital punishment. I don't even comprehend how anyone, especially someone who calls him or herself a Christian could be for it. Besides the fact that Jesus completely negated any form of it, with his famous "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" admonition, I don't understand the logistics of that thinking. Someone committed murder, so they in turn are murdered. Now, shouldn't the individual who injected them or whatever form of murder (execution is a laughable term. it's murder plain and simple :| ) was used be murdered also? After all, they just committed murder. Taking another person's life is never alright, nor should it be legalized in any instance. Honestly, I think only a completely heartless, and mindless moron could even support such a disgusting practice.
 
How does that logic work though? 55 years ago there were laws stating that black individuals had to sit in a certain part of a bus, train, etc. If they didn't, they faced being arrested. So if the law says something, that makes it alright? If the law says it's alright to treat people as less than human than it's ok to arrest them for sitting where they choose, or using a restroom fit for people? If the law says in some instances it's ok to take the life of a human being, than it becomes alright? It's pretty easy to see why the world is so fucked up.:|
 
BrownEyedBoy said:
If that´s the punishment stated in the penal code and he still committed the crime then that´s the punishment he should get. It´s very simple.

I wouldn't agree, though I favour the death penalty, justice must be tempered with mercy.
 
MrsSpringsteen said:

Prosecutors have said Bland's medical condition is not grounds for clemency, and the victim's relatives also have said he does not deserve to die of natural causes.

I think that line alone says this has nothing to do with justice, but rather, deep-rooted hatred and revenge.
 
capital punisment is not murder.

murder is killing somebody who is innocent, is this convicted murderer innocent of the crime?

i think he should be treated for his illness but not delay carrying out the sentence.

mecry cannot rob justice, and justice cannot rob mercy.

dbs
 
BrownEyedBoy said:
If that´s the punishment stated in the penal code and he still committed the crime then that´s the punishment he should get. It´s very simple.

That's why it's not a good idea to always read the law as black-and-white.
 
diamond said:
capital punisment is not murder.

murder is killing somebody who is innocent, is this convicted murderer innocent of the crime?

i think he should be treated for his illness but not delay carrying out the sentence.

mecry cannot rob justice, and justice cannot rob mercy.

dbs


Ok. Fine. However, now, the individual who will do this lethal injection will have purposely taken another human's life. Fuck it being state sanctioned or legal, it's murder. So, once again, with that logic now this law enforcement official will have taken a life. What's his punishment? He will have killed someone. Now, he's no longer innocent. Therefore he should be fair game to be prosecuted for murder and *excuse me* executed. This logic perpetuates nothing but more death. That's always good. As Gahndi said, if the whole world followed the "eye for an eye" principle we'd all be blind. But what does that bleeding heart bastard know anyway?:| Forget what Jesus said too! Especially, for Christians. We'll just ignore Him and interpret The Bible the way that makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside!:happy: :rolleyes:
 
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diamond said:

murder is killing somebody who is innocent, is this convicted murderer innocent of the crime?

nobody said he was innocent. don't you think it is clear that this man is already suffering enough? the cancer is already killing him from the inside.
 
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unico said:


nobody said he was innocent..

Correct, but people have implied that the death penalty is murder, where murder actually means killing the innocent, that's the point.

dbs
 
[q]mur·der
–noun
1. Law. the killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered in law. In the U.S., special statutory definitions include murder committed with malice aforethought, characterized by deliberation or premeditation or occurring during the commission of another serious crime, as robbery or arson (first-degree murder), and murder by intent but without deliberation or premeditation (second-degree murder).[/q]



because only innocent people are ever murdered.
 
diamond said:


Murder =taking innocent life, what part of that don't you understand?

dbs


Murder is taking ANY life. I really don't care how a state or country defines it. They can say "innocent" all they want to make themselves feel righteous. Murder is killing another human being. That's how I take it Biblically as well. I really don't care how a government defines it. My country or state is not my master.
 
i'd view murder as the deliberate taking of another's life. innocence or guilt don't mater much to me.

tell me, someone, how do Christians justify a pro-death penalty position?
 
Irvine511 said:
i'd view murder as the deliberate taking of another's life. innocence or guilt don't mater much to me.

tell me, someone, how do Christians justify a pro-death penalty position?

Thank you! The amount of other Christians I know who support a pro-death penalty position sickens me. The Old Testament gave a list of sins that one could receive the death penalty for by stoning, which you probably know. You're probably also familiar with the New Testament story of the woman caught in adultery. The Pharisees dragged her before Jesus to try and catch him in a compromising situation. Would he follow the Mosaic law that he was supposed to follow as a "good Jew" or would he follow the Roman law that forbade the death penalty? We all know how the story went. He bent down, wrote something in the sand, (I would love to know what that was) and then stood up and said "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw the stone at her." The Bible says they slowly dropped their stones and left. Why? I think, it's because none of us are innocent if we believe The Bible. The Bible says sin is sin. No matter what it is, it separates us from God. God doesn't look at an adulterer or murderer any differently than a person that is a gossiper (also a sin) or a person that eats too much (gluttony is a sin too according to The Bible. Methinks, some Christians should remember that....) Anyway, I think Jesus was basically trying to say, that unless we literally have lived a perfect sin-free existence (which no one but Jesus has according to what I believe) we have no business putting ourself above a murderer or adulterer, etc. and punishing them in that way. Any sin deserves death according to The Bible. Without the sacrifice of Jesus, I deserve to die for lying to my mom about something like I did this morning as much as the man we're talking about here who committed murder. I don't see how a Christian could see this any other way.
 
Irvine511 said:
i'd view murder as the deliberate taking of another's life. innocence or guilt don't mater much to me.

tell me, someone, how do Christians justify a pro-death penalty position?

:shrug: I've never been able to figure that one out myself. I suppose different communities are taught different things.

I think another question to ask is why some Christians are simply incapable of forgiving criminals. If you ask me, I think it is rather contradictory to support the death penalty and then recite the Our Father.
 
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This really is stupid. The guy has three types of cancer and has been going through chemo, which is a downright miserable existance. I'm surprised that a family that is so hungry for revenge would want to end his suffering from cancer. Living with the cancer would be a much more painful existance and to me it seems like this guy is already having some sort of punishment acted out on him.

I'm a bit surprised that this guy was allowed to undergo chemo. I wonder if the family fought that decision.

This is almost as bad as the law that's on the books that states that mentally ill prisoners can't be executed and every effort should be made to treat the prisoners so they can be executed. Makes perfect sense. :huh:
 
murder is a legal term*

it is more like the unlawful taking of a life.


there are all kinds of examples of killing that are not murder.


this case is a very weak example for abolishing the death penalty

for half of my life I supported the death penalty

I no longer support it
in any instance



*eta
murder n. the killing of a human being by a sane person, with intent, malice aforethought (prior intention to kill the particular victim or anyone who gets in the way), and with no legal excuse or authority.

In those clear circumstances, this is first degree murder. By statute many states make killings in which there is torture, movement of the person (kidnapping) before the killing, as an incident to another crime (as during a hold-up or rape), and the death of a police officer or prison guard all first degree murders with or without premeditation, and with malice presumed. Second degree murder is such a killing without premeditation, as in the heat of passion or in a sudden quarrel or fight. Malice in second degree murder may be implied from a death due to the reckless lack of concern for the life others (such as firing a gun into a crowd, or bashing someone with any deadly weapon). Depending on the circumstances and state laws, murder in the first or second degree may be chargeable to a person who did not actually kill, but was involved in a crime with a partner who actually did the killing or someone died as the result of the crime. (Example: In a liquor store stick-up in which the clerk shoots back at the hold-up man and kills a bystander, the armed robber can be convicted of at least second degree murder. To be murder the victim must die within a year of the attack. Death of an unborn child who is "quick" (fetus is moving) can be murder, provided there was premeditation, malice, and no legal authority. Thus, abortion is not murder under the law. (Example: Jack Violent shoots his pregnant girlfriend, killing the fetus). Manslaughter, both voluntary and involuntary, lacks the element of malice aforethought. (See: manslaughter, first degree murder, second degree murder, homicide, malice aforethought, premeditation)
 
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and i guess a lot of us disagree with the modern interpretation/defintion of the word murder.

im not a huge supporter of the death penalty, but do think's it's warranted and necessary in some instances.

dbs
 
This man's life is already withering away. To me it seems as though that they want to keep the responsibility for his death on their hands, just for the sake of revenge and hate. If he is going to die, why not let him die?


It reminds me of when I went to visit Kilmainham Gaol. The tour guide was telling about the history, and spoke of when prisoners were being executed. There was a man that was so ill, he couldn't even sit upright. So, the guards held him up against the chair so he could be executed.

I was sick to my stomach.
 
diamond said:


Murder =taking innocent life, what part of that don't you understand?

dbs
Does your religion command that only innocent life is sacred, otherwise it's open season?
 
A_Wanderer said:
Does your religion command that only innocent life is sacred, otherwise it's open season?

Don't understand the premise, care to rearticulate the question?
 
A_Wanderer said:
Does your religion command that only innocent life is sacred, otherwise it's open season?

I believe he was distinguishing between a person "found guilty" and therefore killed under a lawful sentence (executed).


In America most religious conservatives are good with this. :shrug:
 
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deep said:


I believe he was distinguishing between a person "found guilty" and therefore killed under a lawful sentence (executed).

and in America most religious conservatives are good with this.

Actually this is the position of the LDS Church and mine as well:

We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

So in essence if I were a Mormon in Switzerland where there is no death penalty, I would have to honor the law of that land. In the USA there is the death penalty and even though I don't relish that fact, I relunctantly support it, if I with my conscience so hate it so much, my church would counsel me to move or oppose it through legal means.

Make sense?

There are pro death penalty and anti death penalty Mormons in the USA.

dbs
 
:yawn:

I know A_Wanderer did ask
Does your religion.....


but laws of countries or states should not be set up by religious dictates

no Shia law, or
Vatican law
or
SeaGull laws
for the general populace.

Please, :wink:

We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

so you would honor and obey shia law.

Stone me now.

stoning.jpg
 
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diamond said:


Actually this is the position of the LDS Church and mine as well:

We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

So in essence if I were a Mormon in Switzerland where there is no death penalty, I would have to honor the law of that land. In the USA there is the death penalty and even though I don't relish that fact, I relunctantly support it, if I with my conscience so hate it so much, my church would counsel me to move or oppose it through legal means.

Make sense?

There are pro death penalty and anti death penalty Mormons in the USA.

dbs

so your church teaches you to put man's law above god's?
 
diamond said:


Don't understand the premise, care to rearticulate the question?
Many Christians seem to have an issue with abortion as well as euthanasia on the basis that it somehow violates the sanctity of life. A proportion of these Christians also support the use of capital punishment.

How is a human being who has probably commited a terrible crime have a life that is less sacred than a foetus or brain dead body?
 
Irvine511 said:
i'd view murder as the deliberate taking of another's life. innocence or guilt don't mater much to me.
That works from a pacifist standpoint, though ethically (not legally of course) you might run into problems trying to justify some killing in self-defense, putting up military resistance to an invasion, etc. by that logic. I think your first point(?) was a stronger one--that it's a given mistakes will be made in trying people for capital crimes and this is not an acceptable area to make mistakes with; therefore we should dispense with it altogether, "wrong in principle" or not.
tell me, someone, how do Christians justify a pro-death penalty position?
I'm no expert here obviously, but most Christian pro-death-penalty arguments I've heard seem to rely crucially on Romans 13:4--that a ruler 'bears not the sword in vain' because he is 'the minister of God' and authorized to 'avenge' against evildoers. I suppose one response to that might be that in a representative democracy that's a moot point, since any citizen has authority to weigh in on such matters...on the other hand then you're endorsing people "trying to legislate their religious views."
 
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unico said:


so your church teaches you to put man's law above god's?

where is it in God's law 'not to punish muderers'?
I don't follow.

We're told to follow the laws of the land that we live in and if there are corrupt laws in the country you live in, those people who establish corrupt laws will be dealt with accordingly, in God's own time.

We as citizens of our indivual countries should do our best to make a difference legally.

dbs
 
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